Player poll: Best of frenemies

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In the transient world of modern sport, players line up against former teammates on an almost weekly basis.

We asked some of the game's biggest names who their best mates are now playing at other NRL clubs.

Adam Blair (Broncos)

Jeremy Smith was someone that I really looked up to when I was at Melbourne but I don't really get to play against him too much these days because he's never on the field. (Smith has missed the Knights' past three games against the Broncos.) I didn't even know he wasn't playing last Saturday until I saw him on the bench. He's competitive, he's aggressive and sometimes you just don't want to be tackled by Jezza. I've always kept in touch with Jezza and we still chat now and we've been away from each other for a while now. You just know that Jezza is always going to be there for you.

Beau Scott (Eels)

I formed a pretty strong relationship with Robbie Rochow over the years and still keep in regular contact. We try to catch up. Obviously we both enjoy our fishing so when we both get the opportunity we try to meet up.

Blake Ayshford (Warriors)

Probably Aaron Woods. He gave me a bit of a spray in Round 1 when we played the Tigers when they were beating us, so I wasn't too happy with that. There will be others who might be angry when they see this, but yeah, it's Woodsy for me.

Paul Carter (Rabbitohs)

Me and Aidan Sezer are pretty good mates. He's going well down there in Canberra. I always like to keep in touch with him and see how he and his partner are going because I've known him since under-18s where we played together. Then we played together at the Titans as well so we love to get a bit of banter going on the field with each other. We played 20s at the Bulldogs together and then a bit at the Titans so we've got a pretty good relationship. I haven't seen him for a while but we catch up over the phone. Whenever we do get a chance to meet up then we'll grab a coffee and chat like we've never been apart.

Tim Mannah (Eels)

I would have said 'Jenko' (Michael Jennings) but he's at Parra now so probably Daniel Mortimer.

Josh Jackson (Bulldogs)

I lived with Dale Finucane for three or four years so I'm pretty close with him. I caught up with him after we played them a couple of weeks ago. He's been playing some awesome footy so I think higher rep honours are pretty close for Dale.

Leilani Latu (Panthers)

One of my best mates I've had since growing up is David Klemmer. I'm yet to play him though in my three years being here at the Panthers and two years now playing in the NRL. I'm yet to have even faced my old [Bulldogs] team and in particular him. It'll be something to look forward to for myself and Dave when it does happen. A lot of people ask about he and I and a lot of people compare us two but I love him as a brother and it'll be awesome to finally play against him.

Joe Ofahengaue (Broncos)

I've got a lot of best friends but someone that I'm really close to and who is playing good footy at the moment is Ash Taylor. I've known Ash for years and playing 20s together and making the ‘GF' all us boys came together a lot closer than people thought we would. Ash is a real competitor and to see him after the game and to see a big smile on his face makes me pretty happy. I was pretty bummed that he had to leave [Brisbane] but he got an awesome opportunity to go to the Titans and I'm really proud of him.

Aidan Guerra (Roosters)

Probably Matt Moylan. We became good mates while we were together on tour, and I think every time we run into each other it's like we've been hanging out every day since.

Jarrod Wallace (Broncos)

I'm good mates with Nathan Ross at Newcastle. I found a text message on my phone after the game last week saying that I'd knocked him out. I was looking for him after the game but he must have caught a bit of my knee when we made a break and it knocked him out a bit. I still catch up too with Benny Hannant since he moved to the Cowboys. He was a big part in me moving forward here and was a mentor for me, so we still keep in touch and there are other guys like Ryan James and Cody Walker I am still good mates with.

Hymel Hunt (Rabbitohs)

I'd have to say Richard Kennar from the Melbourne Storm. He's like a brother to me. We share a good bond with each other and we're always laughing. I miss him heaps from our days at the Storm. We're both from Samoan descent, and with me coming from another state it was pretty hard with no family over there. He was the closest thing to family that I had.

Clint Gutherson (Eels)

It has to be Jorge Taufua. We became pretty close over our time together at Manly. We do a lot of things together like playing basketball, going out for meals and doing all that type of stuff.

Kane Linnett (Cowboys)

"We are pretty isolated up here so we don't get to see anyone. I'd probably say Trent Merrin, we grew up together, played in the same school and played junior footy."

Kyle Feldt (Cowboys)

"I'm really not too sure, it's hard because we're so far away from the other teams. I'd say Ben Hampton (from the Atherton Tablelands). I played a lot of rep footy with him. All the other boys I played with back in the day didn't really kick on to the NRL, mainly Benny. He's the only one who's kicked on that I can think of off the top of my head. We played Queensland Residents last year with each other, and we hadn't seen each other in so long and we just clicked again."